Oral care implements, particularly toothbrushes, are typically used by applying toothpaste to a bristled section on a front face of the oral care implement followed by brushing regions of the oral cavity, e.g., the teeth, tongue, and/or gums. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a conventional toothbrush 10, which has a head 12 and a handle 14. As shown, the head has bristles 16 extending from a front face of its head platform 18. The overall thickness H1 of the head, including the bristles, ranges from 15 mm to 20 mm to permit comfortable use of the toothbrush by most adults.
Some toothbrushes have a tongue cleaner on a second face that is opposite to the first face. This configuration permits the user to use a single device for cleaning their teeth as well as their tongue, by rotating the toothbrush as needed to change the active face. FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a conventional combination toothbrush/tongue cleaner device 30, which is generally the same as toothbrush 10 except that it includes a tongue cleaner 20 on its rear face. The overall thickness H2 of the head ranges from 16 mm to 20 mm to accommodate the tongue cleaner and to permit comfortable use of the device by most adults. As shown in FIG. 2, the head platform of conventional toothbrushes has a thickness T of 5 mm to 8 mm.
There is a continuing need for alternative oral care implements that can provide multiple cleaning functions in a single device. Further, there is a need for alternative oral care implements that can simultaneously perform multiple functions during use while comfortably fitting within a user's mouth.